


Moving Forward

by FanaticAo397



Series: Five Nights at Freddy's: Ghosts Of Our Fathers [1]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, The Silver Eyes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Charlie got some therapy, Comfort, F/M, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, Fix-It, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, John gets some personality, Past Character Death, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22025500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanaticAo397/pseuds/FanaticAo397
Summary: A Post TSE Fix-it Au that ignores the Sequel NovelsAfter the event at Freddy's Charlie is attempting to get some normalcy in her life, only to find herself standing at several crossroads. While in the process of navigating them though, she discovers that perhaps one of her closest friends might mean more than she realizes.
Relationships: Charlotte "Charlie" Emily/John (Five Nights at Freddy's)
Series: Five Nights at Freddy's: Ghosts Of Our Fathers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585357
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	Moving Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. Been a long while, I've been busy but I'm back!  
> This is going to be the kick-off to an Au that will be ignoring the canonical sequels and go in a much different direction. This is meant to be a sort of bridge and starting point to several things in the main story.  
> The only real point I will clarify for now is that the twist from The Fourth Closet is being entirely ignored. She's fully human and is getting help with her issues. And there will be more animatronic fun in the main story but for now, enjoy!

“Too Formal.” 

The late afternoon sun peeked through the window of aunt Jen’s bathroom and found Charlie standing before the mirror and pulling her hair out of her latest attempt at a fancy bun.  
‘ _You’re going out to a small dinner and then on a walk, not a ritzy restaurant,’_ she reminded herself, ‘ _Just do a ponytail and be done with it. John’s not going to judge. After all, he's already seen you at your worst.'_ _  
_“Gee, thanks me,” she whispered to herself, as she pushed her hair up once again with a frustrated sigh, “why is this so difficult?”

She wanted herself to look a little casual, but she didn’t want to look like a wreck. Even if it was “just a friendly date" with John.

 _‘Then why are you so insistent you look nice?’_ Charlie cursed her own thoughts, as she tried once again to make her hair halfway decent. 

Eventually, she made up her mind and gathered her hair into a ponytail and tied it up; flattening the hair down as she peered into the mirror. 

“Well, at least it’s something,” she muttered. 

Her outfit had been easier to figure out then her hair, and she’d decided on some dress slacks with a long-sleeved turtleneck shirt. 

She took one last look at herself and finally felt satisfied with her appearance. 

_'Well, you won’t be knocking his socks off, but at least you’ll keep his attention.’_

Deciding to ignore her internal voice, Charlie snatched up her keys from the bathroom counter and started walking towards the front door, focusing on what was going to take place in only a few short hours. 

There was something about making this a “date” that has been throwing Charlie off about it all. At first, she’d chalked it up to the whole thing being Jessica’s idea. As soon as Jessica had returned to New York, she set up a one-woman letter campaign to get them to go on at least one date. It surprised Charlie how easily they’d both had agreed to try it once they’d settled on a time in between school, and Charlie's therapy sessions. 

It almost seemed like a lifetime ago since they last saw each other, given everything that happened to them which still didn't seem completely real. But despite everything, she’d tried to maintain better contact with her friends. She’d told herself over and over it’d be just like meeting again for Micheal’s ceremony. 

But tonight was different. A date was something more and Charlie knew this despite continuously telling herself otherwise. 

While walking past the kitchen, she raised her arm to wave at aunt Jen, and got ready to say farewell. But she stopped when she saw Jen talking on the phone with a sour expression. 

“I understand,” she said and glanced towards Charlie, “but can’t you give us … right … okay.” 

She spoke in a tone that barely betrayed her frustration, while still remaining calm. But her expression towards Charlie was clearly apologetic. 

Knowing that this would mean something bad, Charlie walked over to the table and held her arms as Jen finished the call. 

“We’ll get it all moved out tonight.” She finished and said a parting pleasantry before hanging up. 

“What was that all about?” Charlie asked. Aunt Jen scowled and looked at her niece

“That was our realtor agent, the good news is that he’s found someone willing to fix up the old house, so we can sell it. But they’re coming tomorrow, so anything we want to keep needs to be moved out tonight.” Charlie felt her breath stop when her aunt finished her statement. 

“I thought we’d have _time_ to get what we wanted out!” Her voice lowered as Jen snorted. 

“Oh we have, they’ve given us tonight before they haul the rest of it to the dump.” 

Charlie ran a hand down her face and went silent. Her thoughts and feelings were a whirlwind, but one concern stuck out above them all.

“What am I going to do about John? I can’t just send him home after he spent all that time getting here!"

Right after she said that a thoughtful look crossed aunt Jen's face. 

“Well, they do say many hands make short work.” She said and Charlie gave her an incredulous look. 

“I’m not putting John to work on what’s supposed to be our date!” 

“The realtor isn't going to let us postpone this, and it really should have been done before we even considered selling.” Jen crossed her arms and looked pointedly at her niece. 

“Besides, your plans were just dinner and a walk, right? Well, the restaurants in Hurricane are a lot better than the ones around here and there are more things to see on a walk too.”

Charlie folded her arms, and she looked down. It didn’t feel right, and to her, it would seem like they were making John _work_ for their date. She didn’t want anyone but herself to pay for this mistake. 

Gently, Jen reached over and touched Charlie's left arm. 

“We’ll just load it all into the cars and sort through it later, shouldn't be more than an hour.” 

Another sigh rushed from Charlie and she moved back a little, her breathing slightly deepened. 

“What if he hates me afterward, for making him go back? None of the others like to bring it up or even think about it.” 

“Charlotte,” Jen said before she quickly realized she raised her voice more than was necessary and corrected herself. “Charlie, we’re just going to the house, and nowhere near that mall. I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.” 

“But I promised him a _date,_ not manual labor.” When Charlie finished her retort, Aunt Jen leaned forward onto the table and spoke softly to her niece. 

“What you promised was that he’d get to spend some time with you.” 

“Then it sounds like I made up the ‘date’ thing just to use him." Charlie looked down, and rubbed her arm, a bit stiffer this time.

Out of options, aunt Jen could only offer a meager apology, before getting up to grab her own keys. 

“Just get him from the bus station, and tell him what’s going on. And then once it’s all figured out, you can meet me at the house.” 

“You’re not going to ride with us?” Charlie looked up at her aunt, who smiled knowingly. 

“I’m sure you two are going to need time alone, and wouldn’t want me hanging around.” 

Charlie flushed and silently turned to walk out the front door. Her stomach was now knotted up tighter than a rope and felt just as heavy. Nervous goosebumps crept up along her arms as a sick feeling spread out across her body. She stepped outside and took in a few gulps of the evening air in an effort to steal her nerves. 

She swallowed a breath that seemed to catch in her throat and exhaled. ‘ _Don’t worry, the_ worst _that can happen is-’_

Charlie quickly pushed the half-formed thought out and focused on a more positive one. 

‘ _No matter what happens, I at least got to spend time with him.’_

As she steadied her breathing, she began to walk towards the car. Thinking happy thoughts hadn’t helped much, but it did what it needed to do. 

She slid into her blue Honda, but hesitated to start it up, tightly gripping the steering wheel. The goosebumps hadn’t gone away, and the voice in her head offered one more discouragement: 

‘ _Last chance to back out.’_

Without hesitation, Charlie shoved her keys into the ignition, and started the car, shifting it into gear. 

“I’m not bailing on him.” She whispered.

* * *

The sunlight was already beginning to fade as Charle’s car pulled up to the bus station. Slowing it to a crawl, she peered out towards the rather unassuming building and felt her chest tighten up.

She could see John standing by the building’s entrance, with a small duffel bag clutched in his grip as he gazed out towards the road and parking lot. Waiting eagerly for her to arrive. 

_‘If he sees you, there’s no turning back.’_ Charlie thought as she began to steer the car towards John’s line of sight.

As her car came into view, John’s face lit up, and he started to jog towards the car, though he quickly slowed until it was a light speed-walk. 

As he got closer, she could start making out his finer details, as crisp as when she’d first seen him in the diner, though now his face was clean-shaven. Once he was within speaking distance, Charlie rolled down her window. 

“Hi stranger, you looking for a ride?” She joked, trying to lighten the mood and un-tighten her chest.  
She’d spoken softly, so John barely heard the joke as he finished walking to the car, a nervous smile spreading across his face as he drew near. 

“It’s great to see you again!” He said, excitement creeping into his voice while the pit in Charlie’s stomach only got deeper. Despite it, she forced a smile of her own.

“Yeah, it’s very good to see you, too… and you look nice, I like the shave.” 

_‘His shave, you could have complimented anything and you went for how he shaved?’_ She winced internally and watched John’s hand move up to his chin and he gave a slight smile. 

_‘Oh god, look what you’ve done.’_ Charlie thought as she smiled nervously, reaching behind her to open the back door. 

“Maybe you should throw your stuff in the back and step out of the road.” She offered. John suddenly whipped his head back and forth, before jumping as he realized that he was standing in the middle of the road. He let out a short laugh before tossing his bag into the backseat.

“Good call, I don't feel like visiting a hospital tonight." 

Charlie laughed as John walked around the car to the passenger side, and her heart sank as she remembered they needed to talk about the old house. 

Her knuckles gripped the steering wheel as she tensed up, the sick feeling returned along with a building sense of dread. Closing her eyes, she breathed heavily as the door opened and John slipped into his seat. Once he’d settled in, she started driving.

_‘Well then, go on, there’s no turning back.’_

“So, did you decide which restaurant we’re going to?” He asked.

“I have to talk to you about something.” Charlie blurted out after a moment’s pause, and John glanced disconcertingly at her, tensing up a bit. 

“What’s up?” 

“Aunt Jen and I are… are selling the house in Hurricane.” 

“Your dad’s house?” John asked, relaxing a bit. Charlie nodded and continued on. 

“But… the realtor called, and we have to get everything moved out by tonight.” 

“Oh, so do you want me to help you guys?” He calmly inquired. Charlie squirmed, before forcing a small smile. 

“Y-yeah, and then afterward we can eat dinner… in Hurricane. There’s a bit more to see than around here,” she said, gesturing around at the small town flashing by the outside of the car. 

“Sounds like a pretty good idea to me.” He said and flashed a warm smile, which she couldn’t help but return. 

“It’s absolutely fine if you don’t help though, we can manage by ourselves.” She stammered out.

“No, no, no, I can’t just sit and watch as you two do all the work. It’s like my dad always says.” He snapped his fingers and gave a big grin. "Bees make honey by buzzing, not bumming!"

“Uh-huh, nice one.” She nodded, then turned her attention back to the road. John settled himself back into a normal sitting position and put his hands together with a vacant stare. 

The interior quickly became silent as they drove along, the car eating up the miles. Before long, both the silence and John’s curiosity got to him, and he asked. 

“So, what made you guys decide to sell the house?” 

Charlie looked up from driving, and thought about what she wanted to say before telling him, 

“It was... after the… event... I just… don’t want to live in Hurricane long-term.” 

“Too many-” 

“Yeah! Just... too much of everything,” she said, rather curtly cutting him off. “Between the police interviews, and people bringing up what happened with dad, it’s just… I don’t want to go back unless I have to.” 

John nodded, knowingly, as Charlie finished her statement. She looked down a little while, keeping her view of the road visible. After the incident at Freddy’s, everyone in their group gave police statements to clear themselves of any direct involvement with the death of Officer Dunn. 

With everything else that had happened, it was nearly an afterthought to them. But for the rest of Hurricane, it’d become a huge deal, and it brought Charlie down dealing with it all. 

“I-I’m sorry, you probably didn't want to hear all that.” She apologized.

“No, it’s okay, did everyone go in for interviews?” He asked. 

“I think just about all of us did, though Jessica and Lamar did theirs over the phone. Did you have to actually go to Hurricane to give yours too?” 

“Yeah, my parents insisted I do it in person so I could be more 'honest’... as honest as you can get given the circumstances.” 

Before long, the car passed the faded “Welcome to Hurricane” sign, greeting their arrival. Soon they had gone up the small hill that lead to Charlie's childhood home. 

Aunt Jen’s own car sat in the driveway, though she’d only just gotten there herself. She waved once as they stepped out of the blue Honda. 

“Nice to see you again John, sorry for this change in your plans.” She apologized, as John shrugged and smiled at the two of them. 

”I don’t mind. It’s always a pleasure to help people out.” 

Jen nodded at John’s statement and looked past him at Charlie. She gave a smile and a nod back to confirm everything was alright. 

“Perfect!” Jen motioned for them to follow and lead them over to the front door. 

Charlie glanced at John, who was following calmly, as they entered the house.

The place was nearly the same as when she and John had left it during the Freddy’s incident. Though there weren’t even any signs that they’d even been there a few months ago. The interior was still dusty as ever with all of the furniture still in place. 

Charlie attempted to avert her gaze from the darkened stain on the living room floor. The place her father had “passed on” _‘Looking at it’s not going to bring him back, besides It’s all going to be washed away soon, almost like it never happened.’_

Deep down, she was glad that it would be, and whoever moved in would hopefully never know about its past. 

“Charlie.” Aunt Jen snapped Charlie out of her thoughts as she gestured upstairs. “Why don’t you and John go clean out your old room while I look around down here.” 

“Oh, sure, we can do that.” 

With an affirming look, Jen quickly turned and left the two alone as she went into the kitchen. Charlie looked back to John, who half shrugged and looked towards the upstairs.

“Shall we?” 

Without saying anything Charlie began ascending the stairs with John following behind her. As they went into the hallway, Charlie briefly stared at the door leading to her father’s room and stopped herself from reaching for the handle. 

_‘Don't you have enough on your mind tonight?’_

It was the first time Charlie totally agreed with herself as she lightly pushed off the door and continued down the hallway. Before too long they’d reached the doorway to what used to be Charlie's childhood sanctum. 

The door creaked as she and John entered the room, and almost on instinct she reached out and snatched up Theo, her old rabbit, from his chair. 

Again she felt her stomach sink as she looked about the room, her eyes wandering down Stanley's track. There was no way for her to take that up, even if they had the time it was too much work. 

It was hitting her how much would be lost when the contractors came. Stanley and Ella would never run on their tracks again. ‘

They'd be inanimate, unmoving forever. It suddenly felt wrong to render them immobile, as though she was taking away their freedom. 

"Do you want a minute or two?" John's slightly concerned voice returned her to reality and she shook her head. 

"I'm fine, let's just get Ella and Stanly out of here." She didn't care about any clothes or blankets that might be in there. She'd outgrown almost everything years ago. 

Silently, Charlie passed Theodore to John and went over to press the button that would send Stanley the Unicorn along his track. Both teenagers winced as Stanley creaked loudly as he rolled along his track. To Charlie he seemed to be moving slower than before. As though he knew it was his last run along his track and he was trying to take it in a final time to commit it to memory. With a final, long squeal he stopped at the edge of Charlie's bed and she patted his flank then knelt down beside him. 

Charlie smiled nostalgically and laughed to herself while John knelt down beside her and placed Theo on the bed. 

"You know, I don't know if I ever asked but, did you ever ride Stanley around his track?" 

His question got Charlie to smile wider, as the ghosts of some old memories floated about her mind. She laughed again and glanced from Stanley to Theodore. 

“I wanted too, but dad said if he ever caught me doing it, he’d take Stanley away and that Theodore would tell him if I’d disobeyed him.” 

“Oh, so he’s a spy then?” John smiled at Theodore. “I wonder if he reports to aunt Jen now.” 

“Well if he does, it must be rather boring for the both of them.” While Charlie grinned, John let out a short burst of laughter at the comment. But it didn’t take long before the laughter trailed off and he looked away from Charlie quickly. 

She looked up at him, concern now growing within her as John kept his face and gaze averted. But even though he kept his head turned away, she could see the red forming on his cheeks. 

_‘Is he… blushing?’_

As though he could sense her thoughts, John cleared his throat and glanced back towards Stanley, attempting to distract Charlie from his blushing. 

“So, do we have to do anything to get Stanley off his track?” 

‘ _What are you trying to hide?’_ Charlie pushed the thought aside and turned her focus back to the metallic unicorn, still waiting patiently for them . She leaned down and checked underneath Stanley. From what she could see though it was going to be a rather simple process Whilst the larger animatronics Henry built for the stage had been extremely complex, her toys had been far less so, as he meant for them to be taken apart with relative ease, in case they became damaged. There were a couple of bolts that looked like they needed to be loosened up, then Stanley would become free of his track. She looked up towards John and then glanced downstairs. 

“Just a few bolts, and I think Ella should be the same.” She stood up and stretched before going for the door.

“Last time we were here I found one of dad’s toolboxes, I’m going to bring it all upstairs in case I’m wrong.” 

“Do you want me to come with you?” John asked rather sheepishly, already knowing the answer but the question made Charlie smile. 

“I think I can manage John, but thanks anyway.” She walked out of the doorway and called back to him, “hold down the fort while I'm gone." 

Without waiting for his reply Charlie walked away from her room and towards the stairs. Though her curiosity temporarily overwhelming her other feelings. 

' _Why did he stop laughing like that?’_ She thought, finally back in synch with her own mind. Part of it perhaps was being in her childhood home again. 

Back when they were kids, John had always tried to be the ring-leader of their little group; always the bold with some sort of plan. But they’d never set a leader in stone, and Jessica always seemed to take charge. When they’d met again those long months ago, it seemed like he was still the same, yet then again there had definitely been something different about him. 

Entering the garage through the living room door, she located and snatched up her father's old toolbox, now remembering the glass jar full of marbles. The one she had dropped at school and that John had taken the blame for. 

Once she did, though, a new part of the memory suddenly opened to her. When the jar had fallen, she'd started to cry. She was so afraid of her dad being disappointed or angry at her. And John looked as upset as she was, if not more. He seemed to relax when he took the blame, and she’d stopped crying. But why?

The thoughts about her past once again ran across her mind as she ascended the stairs, the toolbox lightly tapping at her side. She barely noticed its weight as she walked, due in part to being so distracted by her memories of John. 

She re-entered the room to find him sitting on the bed, Theodore in one hand and the other resting on Stanley. 

"Hey, I kept the fort held down for you." John joked and then paused as he realized it sounded funnier in his head. "Uhm, what I meant was-" He stopped as Charlie giggled and set down the toolbox. 

"You don't need to apologize for making me laugh." 

John looked away as his face started to turn red once again. Charlie pretended not to notice as she set down the toolbox and popped it open, her father’s tools still shining as though they were brand new. 

Charlie pulled out several tools she thought might work and began to test them on Stanley’s bolts. The first two didn’t fit, but the third clicked firmly into place. 

“Aha!” She shouted and began to loosen the bolts. 

She grinned as the bolt began to come loose, then laughed as she got both the nut and bolt off. Picking them up, Charlie proudly held them up to John. 

“Well, that wasn’t too hard.” 

“Yeah but that’s just one out of...a lot.” John yelped as Charlie lightly swatted his arm. 

“Don’t take away from my triumph.” She pouted, eliciting laughter from them both. But once again, John cut off his laughter before it got too loud. Hoping that Charlie wouldn't notice. 

“Why do you keep doing that?”

John felt his blood run cold as Charlie gave him a confused and questioning look. His hope that she hadn’t noticed was dashed with the question and he looked further away. 

Charlie watched him silently and waited for him to reply. The initial nervousness returning with full intensity. It’d been fine till she took notice, sure it wasn’t perfect, but now there was a tension in the air. 

_‘Why did I say that?’_ Charlie felt awkward as she realized she wasn’t meant to notice or question it. She now felt as though she’d called him out for just not laughing enough and in the process making him uncomfortable, the opposite of what she’d wanted to do. 

“I’m sorry, I… I didn't mean to make you upset… I just wanted you to have a good time” she slowly moved her hand and wrapped it around John’s. He looked back, nervously with his face flushed red again at her touch.

“It’s alright… I’m just uh… well, I want to have a good time too...and I am.” 

“It seemed like you didn’t want to show it” 

“I uh, I don’t want to come off as being too obnoxious,” John struggled out his excuse and Charlie stared blankly at him. He looked away and sighed. 

“You didn’t buy that at all, did you?” 

“You could offer it at a discount and I wouldn't take it.” 

John let out a little giggle that turned into laughter. Charlie smiled as the tension began to die down, and let out the first thought that came across her mind. 

“Your laughter’s kind of adorable.” Her eyes widened and she wanted to slap herself for saying that out loud. John stopped mid-laugh and looked at her, his face turning bright red.   
“Y-you think so?” He asked, and Charlie felt her hand squeeze John’s tighter.  
“Yeah, I like it a lot when you act a bit silly.” 

“Well, that makes someone at least,” John murmured. “Not everyone seems to like it when I get sensitive and silly.” 

“Well then, it’s a good thing I’m one of those people.” She gently took his other hand and smiled warmly at him. 

“Please, don’t ever think you need to hide how you feel from me, okay?” She smiled up at him and John looked at her concerningly. 

“But what if I become too much, you’re already going through therapy from Freddy’s, I don’t want you to deal with my troubles too,” Charlie responded by squeezing his hand tighter and placing her other hand under it as well.  
“I’d rather have us both be in the open than us both holding back how we feel.” John looked down towards their hands and then back at her with a warm smile.  
“You know, that does sound pretty good.” He said happily. Both of them now smiled as Charlie glanced back towards Stanley. 

“Let’s try and get this all done, so we don’t miss out on any more of our date.” 

John smiled as he got down onto the floor with her and held his arm out in the offer a side hug, which Charlie happily accepted. 

“Hey, I don’t really mind all that much,” John grinned down at her, his face red, “ I get to spend time with you so that's all that counts to me.” 

_‘Huh, aunt Jen was right.’_ Charlie returned the smile and as the two go to work. The tension, nervousness, and feelings of dread all seemed to lift off of Charlie’s shoulders. 

The rest of the time seemed to become a blur to them both as they worked on getting Stanly and then Ella off their respective bases, and boxed them up and any other old toys they found along with them. Then they went through the rest of the house and helped pack up all that they could. But the time flew by faster than anyone could have anticipated and when they finally put the last box into the car it had become very dark outside. 

“Well, that’s the last of it, finally.” Jen sighed and checked her watch with a scowl at how late it’d become. Charlie and John were standing behind her in the driveway. Neither noticing that they were leaning up comfortably against the other. 

“It’s alright, I had a lot of fun doing it.” John smiled at Charlie, who blushed but smiled back.  
“How about I go and get us all some food, and we can eat it here before going on...” She looked sympathetically towards her niece. 

“My treat, as an apology for you both not getting your date.” 

“Do you need either of us to come with you?” Charlie asked, but her aunt shook her head. 

“I know a pretty good place that your dad, mom and I used to come and eat at, I’ll get some stuff from there.” Jen opened her door to climb into the car, looking back one last time. 

“You two better play nice while I’m gone.” She joked, pointing at the pair with a little laugh before she slid into her car. Charlie shook her head as Jen pulled out of the driveway and rolled down the hill, leaving the two alone.

"Did you really mean that?" Charlie asked, looking up at John with a cautious tone. But instead, John turned to smile at her. 

“I’m being completely honest with you Charlie when I say that I had a good time tonight.” 

“Well, then I'm glad.” Charlie pressed up against him a little and looked up. 

“John, can I ask why did you feel the need to hide like that… it’s fine if you don’t want to answer.” John sighed before looking towards the ground a little. He seemed to be questioning whether or not to give her an answer. But after a moment he sighed and decided to answer with her in a lowered tone. 

“It… all just boils down to the fact that the rest of my family doesn't really want their son to be ’goofy’ or ‘emotionally sensitive’”. 

Charlie could only wince at the tone that John gave to her. She hadn’t spent a lot of time around his family, but she remembered how his dad was. She gave John a light hug and told him: 

“Well, unlike your dad I prefer you this way.” She said, giving him a squeeze that he gratefully returned. When they separated from the hug, Charlie gestured towards the house’s backyard. 

“Want to talk one last walk around my backyard? Not exactly a walk in the woods like we planned but it’s something.” 

“Hey, it’s still a trip, just inside our heads instead of down a trail.” John chuckled at his little joke while Charlie smirked. 

_‘Oh great now he’s going to be all corny, never tell him you like it.’_ She took his arm and they both began to walk around the side of the house. The moonlight casting enough for them to see where they were going without flashlights. 

They were mostly silent as they walked around the backyard, though every so often one of them would remember something from their childhood and comment on it. Eliciting a short conversation or laughter from the other. But soon Charlie's gaze fell on a single tree, sitting in the middle of the yard. Her mind traveled back to a particular moment when she and John had been only six...

 _‘Don’t, you’re not ready for it.’_ Her mind’s attempts to sway her were in vain as she gently began to guide John over towards it. 

“Hey John, do you remember _this tree_?” She put a little emphasis on mentioning the tree. Which took John a little by surprise. 

_‘Charlotte, there’s no turning back if you do this.’_ Her mind hissed as they walked behind it. Charlie steeled her nerves as John laughed and rubbed the back of his head at the memory. 

“Yeah, the time when I tried to kiss you when I was like six… gosh… you know I’m sorry for trying to do that.” 

_‘What if things don’t work out?’_

‘Hey, it’s not a big deal, like you said even at six the heart knows what it wants.” Charlie put on a faux romantic voice that made John laugh again. 

‘ _You’ve barely gone on a date with him!’_

“You know John… tonight… ,” Charlie gently touched the tree and took a deep breath to try and hide her nervousness, “is probably the last night we’ll be in this yard, at this house.” 

‘ _Do you really want to do this?’_

“Would you like to finish what we started then?” 

‘ _Yes, this is what I want.’_

“Wha-I...well...If you’d want too-” John stammered, caught off guard by the question. Charlie stood up on her toes, and gently put her hands onto his shoulders before leaning in and putting her lips onto his. Everything seemed to stop at that moment, their focus only on the other as they pulled away. 

Charlie felt a surge of emotions and thoughts as she pulled away. Kissing John, was indescribable, but she knew one thing. It felt good. It felt right. She smiled at John, who was frozen in surprise for a brief moment before snapping back to reality. 

“Wow, I did not expect that.” He whispered, making Charlie's smile become a grin. Peering past the tree she could see headlights coming into the driveway, indicating Jen had returned with the food she’d promised. 

Playfully she turned back to John and then nodded towards the house. 

“Aunt Jen’s back, want to race me to the house?” This time John was ready and grinned. 

“You're on.” 

“By the way, don’t freeze up the next time I do this.” Charlie suddenly leaned in and planted a kiss on John’s cheek before sprinting towards the house. Laughing as John shouted and took off after her and for the first time in years, she felt truly happy. 


End file.
